Global positioning system (GPS) and other position determining systems are enabled in a wide variety of devices, including mobile phones, personal navigation devices, and automobiles. The proliferation of such enabled devices has resulted in an enormous amount of location data being generated. The location data generated typically consists of a latitude, a longitude, a unique identifier and, in some cases, metadata. The assessed location, or “geolocation,” provided by the position determining systems can be used to deliver location-based services to a user.
Another factor that has contributed to a significant increase in location data generated has been the advent of location-based social networks such as Foursquare, Google Latitude, and Facebook Places. These web-based services enable users to share their location via a “check-in,” which is a virtual announcement that informs the user's social network that the user is visiting a physical venue.
FIG. 1 depicts geographic area 100 in the prior art and shows users 101 through 105. Also depicted are the locations of venues 121 through 129. Users 101 through 105 can be seen traveling throughout area 100 and exhibit paths 111 through 115, respectively. As each user arrives at a venue, he might choose to send a check-in, in order to identify explicitly that he is visiting the venue. A check-in typically is made up of a collection of texts, such as “Celebrating Bob's birthday at Comedy Cellar!!,” and photos that capture the user's activity at the venue of the check-in.
A user might choose to check-in at some venues that he physically visits, but not at others. For example, user 105 might have checked in at venues 127 and 129, but not at venues 121 and 128, even though the user was present at all four venues. Similarly, user 104 might not check in at venue 125, even though user 104 was present at that venue.
From a data processing perspective, a check-in also includes structured data such as a venue identifier, a user identifier, and the local time. This data, in combination with the location data already described, enable additional location-based services to be provided to users.